MERIDIAN, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2019--CTI Foods (“CTI” or the “Company”), a leading custom foodservice manufacturer supplying top U.S. restaurant chains and branded food companies, today announced that it has successfully completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11. Through the expedited eight-week process, CTI has reduced its debt by more than $400 million and is moving forward with approximately $110 million of committed exit financing from a new ABL facility, providing significant financial flexibility to support continued investments on behalf of its customers.

“Today marks the beginning of the next chapter for CTI Foods as an even stronger company,” said Mike Buccheri, President and Chief Executive Officer of CTI. “Through this process and with the support of our new sponsors, we have improved our capital structure and significantly reduced our debt. CTI Foods is now well positioned to build on our core business through increased investments in innovation, product development, and food safety. As always, we will continue to focus on CTI’s core mission of delivering exceptional custom foods and culinary solutions to drive our customers’ growth goals.”

Mr. Buccheri continued, “I also want to especially thank our customers, vendors, and business partners for their support throughout this process. Our success is a testament to their belief in us, our ongoing collaboration and partnership, and the hard work of all our CTI employees. I am excited for CTI Foods’ future and honored to lead this team in the execution of our strategy for long-term growth and value creation for our vendor and customer partners.”

An investor group led by Black Diamond Capital Management, LLC, Barings, LLC, and the asset management and investment advisory business of Guggenheim Partners has acquired a majority interest in CTI. The investor group is excited to partner with CTI to further strengthen its position as a leading provider of custom food products.

Barclays served as the sole arranger and sole bookrunner of the Company’s exit ABL facility.

About CTI Foods

CTI Foods is a culinary-driven company that offers a diverse range of custom food solutions to the foodservice and restaurant industries, including raw and pre-cooked protein, dry sausage, soups and sauces, and dehydrated beans. CTI Foods has seven state-of-the-art food processing facilities and has over 1,700 employees at its California, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Texas locations.

About Black Diamond

Founded in 1995, Black Diamond is a leading alternative asset management firm with over $8 billion in assets under management across three complementary investment platforms: Control Distressed/Private Equity Funds, a Hedge Fund and CLOs and other structured vehicles.

About Barings

Barings is a $317+ billion* global financial services firm dedicated to meeting the evolving investment and capital needs of our clients and customers. Through active asset management and direct origination, we provide innovative solutions and access to differentiated opportunities across public and private capital markets. A subsidiary of MassMutual, Barings maintains a strong global presence with business and investment professionals located across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

*As of March 31, 2019

About Guggenheim Partners

Guggenheim Partners is a global investment and advisory firm with more than $265 billion* in assets under management. Across our three primary businesses of investment management, investment banking, and insurance services, we have a track record of delivering results through innovative solutions. With over 2,400 professionals based in offices around the world, our commitment is to advance the strategic interests of our clients and to deliver long-term results with excellence and integrity. We invite you to learn more about our expertise and values by visiting GuggenheimPartners.com and following us on Twitter at twitter.com/guggenheimptnrs.

*Assets under management are as of March 31, 2019 and include consulting services for clients whose assets are valued at approximately $60 billion.